Thailand’s official unemployment rate fell in the second quarter to its lowest since the start of the pandemic and is expected to improve further as the economy recovers, the kingdom’s top economic planning body said on Friday.
Thailand’s unemployment rate fell to 1.37% in the quarter ending June, or 550,000 people officially unemployed according to the state’s definition, from 1.53% in the previous quarter, the National Council says. for Economic and Social Development (NESDC) in a communiqué.
This is the lowest unemployment rate since the first quarter of 2020 when Thailand had only 1.03% of registered workers, just before the economy felt the effects of the health crisis.
In July, the Thai Chamber of Commerce indicated that the kingdom lacked more than half a million migrant workers additional, to meet the needs, mainly on construction sites, in factories and in agricultural production.
However, the definition of unemployment in Thailand is very narrow and considers absolutely inactive persons as unemployed, that is to say those who have not worked a single hour during a week studied. Moreover, the figures do not take into account the gray economy in which more or less half of the active population of Thailand is found.
In April-June, employment rose 3.1% year-on-year, with both farm and non-farm payrolls rising, following a 3% improvement in the previous quarter, the NESDC said.
“The employment situation has improved to approach pre-pandemic levels“, he points out. And to add that the demand for labor is increasing as the economy recovers, leading to a shortage of highly and low-skilled workers.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy remains highly dependent on its international tourism, which has been dented by the health crisis, dropping from nearly 40 million travelers in 2019 to just 428,000 in 2021. After authorities lifted in July Most restrictions on entry and movement conditions in the kingdom, the government is targeting 10 million foreign tourists by 2022.
